Ninety minute Defour takes the plaudits
Steven Defour was in excellent form at Chelsea as the Clarets opened the season with an away win, and that form continued last Saturday despite our home defeat against West Bromwich Albion.
Although the Clarets were beaten, Defour’s performance was certainly a talking point yet it went almost unnoticed that he’d actually played the full game for the first time in the Premier League.
In the formation we’ve used in the opening games he’s thrived alongside Jack Cork and it was no surprise to see them taking the top two places in both the man of the match vote and the player ratings.
They didn’t just dominate the man of the match vote but virtually took it over. Defour won it with a 50% share of the vote followed by Cork who was second with 36%. That meant a small return for the next two places with Jeff Hendrick and James Tarkowski sharing third place with just 2% of the vote each.
Again the midfield pair we some way ahead in the player ratings. Defour’s rating of 7.81 out of 10 was just ahead of Cork, who scored 7.69, but no other player reached seven for a good performance.
Central defender Ben Mee was third with a rating of 6.35, ahead of Sam Vokes who had a rating of 6.27 out of 10 to secure fourth place.
Defour, therefore, won the maximum ten points towards the Up the Clarets Player of the Year. Behind him there were six points for Cork, two each for Hendrick, Mee and Tarkowski with Vokes winning one point.
At the start of the season there are always a lot of changes at the top of the player of the year table. Vokes’ performance at Chelsea ensured he held the top position for the first week but he’s handed that over to Defour who has now moved on to 16 points, five ahead of Vokes.
The next vote will start tonight following our League Cup tie at Blackburn. It will be available as soon as possible.
The West Brom result and the current player of the year table are below.
MAN OF THE MATCH
50% – Steven Defour
36% – Jack Cork
2% – Jeff Hendrick & James Tarkowski
2% – Ben Mee
2% – Robbie Brady
1% – Johann Berg Gudmundsson
1% – Tom Heaton & Matt Lowton
1% – Sam Vokes & Stephen Ward
PLAYER RATINGS
7.81 – Steven Defour
7.69 – Jack Cork
6.35 – Ben Mee
6.27 – Sam Vokes
6.25 – Matt Lowton
6.23 – Jeff Hendrick
6.19 – Tom Heaton
6.06 – Stephen Ward
5.90 – James Tarkowski
5.77 – Robbie Brady
5.69 – Johann Berg Gudmundsson
UP THE CLARETS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
16: Steven Defour
11: Sam Vokes
6: Jack Cork
4: James Tarkowski
3: Ben Mee & Stephen Ward
2: Jeff Hendrick
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